ABOUT ME | Lisa DiFranza

LISA DiFRANZA

I’m an artist and cultural leader working across theater, visual art, teaching, and organizational development. My background as a theater director and visual artist shapes how I lead—collaboratively, attentively, and with care for people and place.

Whether directing a production, developing visual work, teaching, or guiding organizations and partnerships, I focus on how the creative process can strengthen connection and public engagement. I see art not as a separate activity, but as a very human way of thinking and working—grounded in imagination, empathy, rigor, good humor, and responsibility to the larger community.

BIO

Asa non-profit leader, Lisa served as the Executive and Artistic Director of The Children's Theater of Maine, Education Director and Literary Manager at Portland Stage Company, and Founding Director of The Arts Academy, an innovative public high school arts pilot program for the State of Maine. She was hired to provide project and transition leadership at Center for Cultural Exchange, Maine College of Art, and the Children's Museum and Theater of Maine. She is currently the Festival Coordinator of The Maine Jewish Film Festival.

A theater director, DiFranza has produced work in Maine, New York, Iowa, and Illinois. Her most recent production was Conscience at Portland Stage Company, in October 2024. While living in Chicago, Lisa taught at Columbia College Chicago, and used her gritty theater expertise to launch The Living News Project – a multi-year journalistic theater collaboration about homelessness, working with Cornerstone Community Outreach, and supported by the City of Chicago and Illinois Humanities Council. She worked for five years on the production faculty of The Juilliard School Drama Division in New York.

Having grown up in a family of painters, Lisa has painted throughout her life. A solo exhibit of Lisa's paintings was recently exhibited at The Francis Hotel in Portland, ME. In Florida, her work has been exhibited at Saks Fifth Avenue, Royal Bank of Canada, MARA Gallery, Art Ovation Hotel, Art Center Sarasota, Ad Hoc Gallery, Baobab Gallery and ArtCenter Manatee. Her work can be found in private collections throughout the United States and beyond.